Shear bands in granular flow through a mixing length model

We discuss the advantages and results of using a mixing-length, compressible model to account for shear banding behaviour in granular flow. We formulate a general approach based on two function of the solid fraction to be determined. Studying the vertical chute flow, we show that shear band thickness is always independent from flowrate in the quasistatic limit, for Coulomb wall boundary conditions. The effect of bin width is addressed using the functions developed by Pouliquen and coworkers, predicting a linear dependence of shear band thickness by channel width, while literature reports contrasting data. We also discuss the influence of wall roughness on shear bands. Through a Coulomb wall friction criterion we show that our model correctly predicts the effect of increasing wall roughness on the thickness of shear bands. Then a simple mixing-length approach to steady granular flows can be useful and representative of a number of original features of granular flow.Comment: submitted to EP

Water use indicators at farm scale: Methodology and case study

Indicators for water use at farm scale can assist farmers in understanding the water flows on their farms and in optimizing water use by adapting agronomic measures and farm management. The objective of this work is to develop a methodology to estimate water flows at the farm scale, to derive indicators for farm water use, and to apply them in a first case study. After the spatial and temporal boundaries of the farm system and the water flows are defined, three indicators to assess water use at the farm scale are developed: farm water productivity, degree of water utilization, and specific inflow of technical water. Farm water productivity describes the ratio of farm output to water input, where the water input is the total of those water inflows into the farm system that can be assigned to the generation of farm output. Farm output is expressed on a mass basis, food energy basis, and monetary basis. The degree of water utilization characterizes the relationship between productive water to the total water inflow into the farm system, where productive water comprises those water flows that directly contribute to biomass generation via plant and animal metabolism. The specific technical water inflow quantifies the water inflow into the system by technical means relative to the farm area. The application of the methodology in a first case study for a mixed crop-livestock farm with 2869 ha in Germany results in a farm water productivity of 2.30 kg fresh mass per mWinput-3, 1.03 kg dry mass per m Winput-3, 5.96 GJ m Winput-3, and 0.25 € mWinput-3. The degree of water utilization is 0.56. The specific technical water inflow is 36.5 m3 ha-1 year -1. Factors that mainly effect these indicators and general approaches to optimize water use in farms are discussed as well as the further research required for practical implementation

Eficiência agronômica de fosfato natural reativo na cultura da soja.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência agronômica relativa de uma fonte de fósforo na cultura de soja [Glycine max (L.) Merrill.]. O superfosfato triplo foi a fonte-padrão, e o fosfato natural reativo Arad foi a fonte testada, ambos aplicados em diferentes doses, em área total ou no sulco de semeadura. Em outubro de 2004, o experimento foi instalado em Balsas, MA, em Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo distrófico, textura argilosa e baixa disponibilidade de fósforo, conduzido com soja cultivar BRS Sambaíba por três safras (2004/2005 a 2006/2007); a terceira safra foi conduzida sob efeito residual das aplicações anteriores. De forma geral, não foram observadas diferenças quanto à localização da fonte-padrão, ao passo que a localização do fosfato natural reativo Arad reduziu significativamente a eficiência. Quando aplicado a lanço, nos dois primeiros cultivos, o fosfato natural reativo Arad resultou em aproximadamente 76% de eficiência agronômica relativa, o que demonstra média viabilidade agronômica. Sob efeito residual, a aplicação localizada do superfosfato triplo resultou em resposta semelhante à verificada com a aplicação anual desta fonte, entretanto, o aumento na eficiência agronômica relativa foi mais acentuado, quando ambas as fontes foram aplicadas a lanço

Environmental cues and genes involved in establishment of the superinfective Pf4 phage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

© 2014 Hui, Mai-Prochnow, Kjelleberg, McDougald and Rice. Biofilm development in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is in part dependent on a filamentous phage, Pf4, which contributes to biofilm maturation, cell death, dispersal and variant formation, e.g., small colony variants (SCVs). These biofilm phenotypes correlate with the conversion of the Pf4 phage into a superinfection (SI) variant that reinfects and kills the prophage carrying host, in contrast to other filamentous phage that normally replicate without killing their host. Here we have investigated the physiological cues and genes that may be responsible for this conversion. Flow through biofilms typically developed SI phage approximately days 4 or 5 of development and corresponded with dispersal. Starvation for carbon or nitrogen did not lead to the development of SI phage. In contrast, exposure of the biofilm to nitric oxide, H2O2 or the DNA damaging agent, mitomycin C, showed a trend of increased numbers of SI phage, suggesting that reactive oxygen or nitrogen species (RONS) played a role in the formation of SI phage. In support of this, mutation of oxyR, the major oxidative stress regulator in P. aeruginosa, resulted in higher level of and earlier superinfection compared to the wild-type (WT). Similarly, inactivation of mutS, a DNA mismatch repair gene, resulted in the early appearance of the SI phage and this was four log higher than the WT. In contrast, loss of recA, which is important for DNA repair and the SOS response, also resulted in a delayed and decreased production of SI phage. Treatments or mutations that increased superinfection also correlated with an increase in the production of morphotypic variants. The results suggest that the accumulation of RONS by the biofilm may result in DNA lesions in the Pf4 phage, leading to the formation of SI phage, which subsequently selects for morphotypic variants, such as SCVs

Phosphorus placement for annual crops in the tropics.

This article discusses principles for optimizing the placement of P in soils of the tropics?looking towards better agronomic, economic, environmental, and social outcomes. General guidelines are offered for short and long-term sustainability

The Impact of Dispersion on Amplitude and Frequency Noise in a Yb-fiber Laser Comb

We describe a Yb-fiber based laser comb, with a focus on the relationship between net-cavity dispersion and the frequency noise on the comb. While tuning the net cavity dispersion from anomalous to normal, we measure the amplitude noise (RIN), offset frequency (f_CEO) linewidth, and the resulting frequency noise spectrum on f_CEO. We find that the laser operating at zero net-cavity dispersion has many advantages, including an approximately 100x reduction in free-running f_CEO linewidth and frequency noise power spectral density between laser operation at normal and zero dispersion. In this latter regime, we demonstrate a phase-locked f_CEO beat with low residual noise

'Big things in small packages: The genetics of filamentous phage and effects on fitness of their host'

© FEMS 2015. This review synthesizes recent and past observations on filamentous phages and describes how these phages contribute to host phentoypes. For example, the CTXφ phage of Vibrio cholerae encodes the cholera toxin genes, responsible for causing the epidemic disease, cholera. The CTXφ phage can transduce non-toxigenic strains, converting them into toxigenic strains, contributing to the emergence of new pathogenic strains. Other effects of filamentous phage include horizontal gene transfer, biofilm development, motility, metal resistance and the formation of host morphotypic variants, important for the biofilm stress resistance. These phages infect a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria, including deep-sea, pressure-adapted bacteria. Many filamentous phages integrate into the host genome as prophage. In some cases, filamentous phages encode their own integrase genes to facilitate this process, while others rely on host-encoded genes. These differences are mediated by different sets of 'core' and 'accessory' genes, with the latter group accounting for some of the mechanisms that alter the host behaviours in unique ways. It is increasingly clear that despite their relatively small genomes, these phages exert signficant influence on their hosts and ultimately alter the fitness and other behaviours of their hosts